Propulsion engineer
Pubblicato il 15-10-2026 - Alpha Impulsion in Napoli
Overview By joining Alpha Impulsion as a propulsion engineer on thermal and fluid dynamics in the Naples office, you will play a key role in the development of propellant feed systems for multiple iterations of our autophage rocket engines. Reporting to the Chief Scientific Officer, you will bring forward solutions to challenging thermal cases for AMBER (storable propellants demonstrator) and GARNET (full-scale cryogenic launcher). This includes trade studies of fluidic designs including cooling mechanisms and injection. You will then contribute to demonstrating the high performance of autophage propulsion, especially through testing. Your first project here Alpha Impulsion is developing a medium-scale research engine and propulsion test bench as part of a major contract with the Campania region. This activity will support the development of a game-changing cryogenic rocket engine able to disrupt the way launchers are built, reaching performance up to twice that of current propulsion technologies. You will embark on a new project,
with the opportunity to build it from start to qualification and exploitation. Your key responsibilities: * Size and design regenerative cooling circuits for hybrid and cryogenic autophage rocket engines, handling complex fluids (including H2O2 and O2) close to their critical point. * Develop engine cycle and thermal architectures from 0D/1D system-level performance models to full 3D conjugate heat transfer and CFD simulations, including choice of arms and workflow. * Conduct system-level parametric trade studies to optimise the engine power cycle and loads, cooling channel geometry, and overall system performance from a 10kN prototype up to a mini-launcher engine. * Implement advanced thermal protection strategies, including film cooling, distributed injection, and boundary layer management to mitigate extreme thermal loads. * Define test configurations and instrumentation plans for subscale thermal and cooling breadboards, interpreting t